Page 8 of Stone Cold Sinner

“To my detail, yes. He’s been serving for a bit, training, the usual. I had a hole on my team, and he’s been earning the spot so far. Good kid, young, but has a solid head on his shoulders.”

Coy buttered a piece of toast and added jelly, then cut it in half between his nephew and niece and winked. “Who vetted him?”

“Coy, you know Ran has a pretty good vetting system considering his job, right?” Dillon chuckled.

“If memory serves, we worked a case involving Ran, his safety, and said vetting system, not all that long ago,” Coy pointed out as he poured orange juice into two spill-proof cups for the kids and popped their lids on. “Or was that a different sitting president you had the hots for?”

“Point taken.” Dillon made her way to the table with platters of food. “And I might have run him myself when they brought him up to the detail and when I saw Dev making that face she’s been wearing anytime he’s in the room.”

“Wait, are you just going to bypass that whole ‘previous president you had the hots for’ part on purpose?” Ransom asked, seeming playfully offended.

“Don’t worry, baby. I strongly dislike politics and the politicians who do the politicking… You’re the exception, honey.” Dillon dropped a kiss on her husband’s forehead and refilled his coffee mug.

“It’s probably because I’m not a real politician and more of a man of honor –– a war hero. Girls have a thing for that,” Ransom teased and swatted her ass, earning giggles from the little ones.

“Remember the four and under club is watching their cool Uncle Ran’s every move,” Nora reminded. “Last thing I need is a parent-teacher conference because they’re slapping… rear ends at school.”

“Hands to yourselves, always, you two,” Cut said, addressing the children. “Understood?”

They nodded with giggles, and Cut shook his head, knowing this wasn’t the end of it. “Uncle Ran can handle that phone call when it comes in, darlin’. Better get him on speed dial at the school.”

Ransom winked at the kids. “They won’t make Uncle Ran look bad. Will ya?”

The two shook their heads in agreement.

“See? All good,” Ransom said with a satisfied grin.

“They’re little fibbers, Ran.” Nash flipped a pancake onto a tall stack and brought it over to the table. “These two get me in trouble all the time. Don’t you, little rug rats?”

“I think you get yourself in plenty of trouble without their help, but there was that choice word you taught Tuck that landed me in the principal’s office,” Nora said, plating the children’s food. “Uncle Nash has a potty mouth, don’t he?”

“Uncle Nash got in big trouble. He’s afraid of Mama,” Tucker said.

“No dessert for Uncle Nass,” Dally said in her tiny little voice.

“Y’all aren’t foolin’ me. I know you snuck him some of your apple pie that night,” Nora said, earning wide-eyed stares. “Remember, I see everything ‘round here.”

Nash looked at Nora, then the kids. “Swear I didn’t tell her.”

“I told her,” Cut said between bites of his breakfast. “Y’all did a good job workin’ together, but you tried foolin’ your Mama, and that ain’t okay.”

“Hold on, now. Before you go sendin’ these hooligans off to the big house, you should know that they did it out of concern and generosity. They didn’t want ol’ Uncle Nash to starve, and to be fair, I didn’t eat it… they did. So technically, no laws have been broken here.”

“Great,” Nora said, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her pregnant belly. “Now I want some apple pie.”

Everyone laughed and went on about eating their breakfast while having light conversation and getting reacquainted, though it seemed as though no time had passed at all.

“Nice of you to join us,” Coy said as Devyn came inside and took a seat at the table.

“Just in time to help clean up,” Dillon added while clearing dishes from the table.

Devyn picked through what was left of the food and piled it on her plate. “Man, you guys were hungry this morning. Didn’t think to leave much, did ya?”

“When you didn’t come back in, we assumed you weren’t eating and went for seconds,” Coy said.

Nash patted his stomach. “Some of us, thirds.”

“I was simply making sure everyone had something to eat from Ran’s crew out there. Just being… patriotic and all.”

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